Great White’s Jack Russell Remained Haunted by Nightclub Fire

The broad strokes of Great White’s career trajectory are similar to many of their peers: hardscrabble origins followed by astronomical success, cut off at the knees during the grunge explosion and relegated to the nostalgia circuit in the decades that followed.

But Great White — in particular frontman Jack Russell, who died on Aug. 15, 2024 at age 63 after being diagnosed with Lewy body dementia and multiple system atrophy — battled demons far more profound than a decline in popularity. For the last two decades of his life, the frontman grappled with his degree of culpability in the deadly 2003 Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island.

It only took six minutes for the blaze to engulf the building and irrevocably change the course of hundreds of lives, including Russell’s. Great White tour manager Daniel Biechele set off the pyrotechnics during the band’s first song. They ignited the soundproofing foam on the club’s ceiling, rapidly engulfing the club and killing 100 people and injuring 230 more.

Biechele pled guilty to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to four years in prison for his involvement in the fire, though he was granted parole roughly halfway through his sentence. Venue owners Michael and Jeffrey Derderian pleaded no contest and were sentenced to prison and 500 hours of community service, respectively.

Russell was never charged, and for legal reasons he was advised to say little in the aftermath of the fire. But he became a music industry pariah and persona non grata among New Englanders — and remained haunted by the tragedy for the rest of his life.

“I Just Didn’t Want to Feel Anything”

“After the fire happened, I really went into a downward spiral,” Russell told City Journal in 2007. “Every single drug I could ever get, I’d do, because I just didn’t want to feel anything. I was in so much pain.”

As for his response or lack thereof after the fire, the singer explained: “Initially all my lawyers said don’t ever say I was sorry because that would mean I was guilty or something. I didn’t have anything to do with what happened, you know what I mean? It was a horrible thing.”

Great White donated money to the victims’ families and embarked on a benefit tour, with proceeds going to the Station Fire Memorial Foundation. Detractors later took issue with Russell receiving a televised facelift, which some considered insensitive. When the band staged a poorly received 10th-anniversary benefit concert, the Foundation announced that it would no longer accept any funds from Russell or Great White.

Controversy bloomed again in 2015 when Russell’s Great White was booked to play the Party in the Pasture festival in Mechanics Falls, Maine, which was promoted as their first New England show since the Station fire. (Their set was eerily canceled due to an unexplained power outage.) The event drew the ire of rock fans throughout the region, and even Russell was bewildered by the advertising.

“Ah geez … people just don’t get it,” he told Vanyaland in 2015 regarding the Party in the Pasture promotion. “What are you thinking? Don’t you understand that people died? People lost their friends? I mean, have a little courtesy and respect. There’s people that are still devastated — I’m one of them. I’ve got a lot of friends I can’t just pick up the phone and call and their numbers are still in my phone. And I don’t want to erase them. I still cry, you know? Like 10 times a month, just bawling. I miss my friends, you know?”

READ MORE: Great White Still Love Jack Russell, Says Mark Kendall

“If I could go back and change my life, or anybody’s life I would do it,” Russell added. “That wasn’t supposed to happen; it was supposed to be a concert. I just try to take it one day at a time, and sometimes one day [is] worse … some days I can’t even get out of bed. I am so sorry. I just don’t want to cause any more pain — ever. It’s just — I don’t know.”

“I Don’t Feel Better About Any of It and I Don’t Think I Ever Will”

Russell’s anguish over the Station fire was compounded by his survivor’s guilt. He revealed in 2015 that he’d been seeing a psychiatrist once a week for 12 years following the tragedy.

“It really affected my life in a lot of ways, but I can’t complain because I’m alive,” he told Classic Rock in 2013. “My demons are my demons, and at that time, they were coming and going as they pleased, but that just took me to my knees. There’s no psychologist you can talk to, and trust me, I’m still talking to them, who could ever help me come to terms with that and go, ‘Okay, I feel better now.’ Because I don’t. I don’t feel better about any of it and I don’t think I ever will.”

In death as in life, Russell remains inextricably linked to the Station fire. But he also leaves behind a legacy as a powerhouse vocalist with a sensitivity and zest for life, according to those who knew him. Among the early tributes was Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider, who wrote: “RIP Jack Russell. This man was vilified for a situation out of his control and tortured by the memories. He was not evil. And man, could he sing!”